


Opposing Sides

by orphan_account



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Eichenwalde, Gen, Is it wrong if i love tearing reinhardt into little pieces, PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 18:19:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8411698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Reinhardt decides to takes a trip to Eichenwalde to see what it has become since he last was there and pay his respects. While wandering the ruins though, he finds out he is not alone.  (also known as Old Man Really Needs a Hug)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Sorry I havent posted the sequal to Deadeye because it is still being plotted out and organized but heres a fic I've wanted to flesh out for quite a while. This is inspired by the Bastion animation short and the overwhelming potential for Reinhardt angst.

The weather was perfect and the timing wouldnt have been better. Reinhardt rummaged through his duffel bag, digging around for a candy bar he could have sworn Brigitte packed. He wonders how his apprentice is doing at the moment, with a smile he thought of his apprentice spending his absence sleeping.  
Coming up empty handed, he turned to the window of the bus.  
Watching the scenery change from small towns to dense forest was gradual but as a result of him napping for most of the trip he could've sworn the transformation was drastic.

In all honesty some part of him didn't want to go to Eichenwalde. It would feel like nothing more than a reopened wound he would rather leave closed but he needed to do this, he needed to return on the anniversary of the battle to honor them, he felt solely responsible for honoring them as one of the few that survived. And most of all, he needed to know what had become of his comrades last stand.

With a deep breath Reinhardt stretched his arms over his head and immediately touched the ceiling. Being a large man in a small bus made it hard to reach up any higher then elbows length sadly, so he folded his arms behind his head.  
The blur of various greens the car passed were a gorgeous sight that only he and the driver would enjoy.  
Well, maybe not so much the driver but the change from the usual cities he saw often was welcomed greatly. Soon enough he noticed some small landmarks that hinted that there was much less left of the ride. Unnoticeable at first, because most of them remained abandoned for many years but still recognizable. 

The bus slowed to a stop.  
The corner of a dense forest where the road wore too thin to ride on. The driver turned to him.  
“This is as close to Eichenwalde I can get sir.” He thanked them with a tip he had saved in his pocket. A handful of crumpled currency that the driver would appreciate for the long trip. 

Stepping out, a breeze of fresh air filled his lungs. The forest smelled greatly of pine and mostly of the outdoors with a little of the bus’s exhaust disturbing the scent. The vehicle pulled away in the complete opposite direction, the rumbling of its old engine fading in the distance. 

And so he was alone now. Slinging the bag back over his shoulder he trudged onwards, along a smaller path of dense plants and weathered stone. Birds sitting high up there sang back and forth. Enough light filtered through the pine trees that he could see a clear path but dark stretches of shadow weaved in with the twisted and wild growth.  
The birds would go quiet if he walked loud enough, giving an unwelcomed feeling and reminded him no humans have probably been seen in years. He pondered back to when he was a young crusader under his master Balderichs wing. It was truly an honour he was chosen but a wave of shame soured Reinhardts mood. What could he have done to prevent the death of the man. Was it his fault he survived in exchange for his master's life?  
Pushing away the familiar mood, he whistled a song out loud as he trudged onwards. It felt like hours had passed, but according to the watch it has only been twenty minutes. Only ten more until he reaches his destination. 

He stopped mid whistle, did he even plan what would he do there? He laughed softly and continued on. Small traces of stone started showing up, upon closer inspection it they were pieces of buildings that had weathered off by rain or wind and were carried away. Eichenwalde is much closer than he thought. Soon he could see the outline of the town with its proud castle like a diamond in the center, towering above all.  
What shocked him was how worn it looked from where he stood.  
His heart sank at seeing the once jewel looked as though nature and time had taken its toll on it. 

Setting foot onto the crumbling streets felt like stepping into a completely different universe. The familiar buildings he knew losing that once human touch as vibrant green plants interwove into the brick and wood.  
He felt truly alone.  
Wandering the ruined crooked streets voices from memories faintly echoed the streets. Dead bastion Units littered all over the place as well as old signs of the last battle that took place. One looked as if reaching out, the vegetation swallowing most of its form. He would compare the old omnics to corpses but they were never alive to being with. It felt unsettling to see them all over without any armor or weapon. Regret held onto him briefly.  
Seeing them sprawled and very obviously gone a thought whispered in the back of his head. It wondered what would happen if they were all to wake up and lunge out at him. 

He wasn't entertained by the idea.

That was exactly when a crashing sound was heard, making him jump in fear. Turning to the source jumping into a fighting stance out of muscle memory. It seemed as though a wall had just toppled over. Easing his anxious mind, he reminded himself the condition the towns place has been degraded to. Anything could have obviously tipped it over. A bird, some squirrel, hell even a breeze could've made it give in to gravity.  
He walks away to continue his walk. Pulling out a water bottle out of the bag he drinks til his gaze turns to the old bar. Stepping into it, he felt older. Moss clung to everything like a rust on metal, a bastion unit resting in a crater of splintered, rotting wood. Other than the omnic, the place looked untouched.  
He ran his palm over the bars old counter feeling for that telltale name etched into the wood and after all those years it remained. His name. The memory came back vividly, of his clumsy hands scratching it onto there for the sake of leaving his mark on a place he felt special. Or so his younger, slightly drunk self thought so.  
He walked on, there is much more to see and pay respects to. Stopping at every building or so felt like the same story being sung over and over again. The reminder of the losses he's had but he didn't believe he experienced any trauma from it.  
After all, how could he still experience the trauma if he had already mourned enough. He had grown used to the aching scars, hearing voices from memories of people long passed, the gunfire, the blood-  
He ran a palm over his face in a slight slap to avoid where his mind was circling to. Laughing out loud out he wondered if maybe it was wiser to have brought one other person to distract himself just enough. 

\---------------------------

“What’s this?” Bastion clicked in surprise. 

Ganymedes landed on Bastions shoulder, looking down at what was holding his friends interest. A pair of odd animal tracks that stood out greatly on the muddy ground. It followed the path of broken stones and the strip where very few plants could grow in. They certainly looked like the tracks of some creature creature and not the product of a storm.

“Can’t be a deer-” They blipped as they knelt down to look closer. “-and certainly not a bear either.” Bastion poked the soil. 

Their bird softly touched the ground where the footprints were, inspecting them closer. The omnic noticed they had also led towards the ruins, the place full of other dead kin Bastion avoided. They were aware enough of those that had died in the plains, there was no need to go there to see more of such.  
The trail was tempting though. And the curiosity of finding out what left these was too great.  
Ganymedes seemed to get the same idea as well and fluttered to their shoulder chirping a tune. Bastion chirped back to the best of their ability and followed the tracks. 

When the trail went into the ruins it grew more difficult to trace. From the way it moved Bastion guessed it was wandering without direction now. It dipped in and out of buildings, sometimes lingering in some more then others. It was strange. The unusual tracks of an unusual organism. 

When bastion caught up to the most recent prints the omnics movements went rigid.

A human stood in a half broken building.

That answered Bastions primary question, but a realization hit them. That this is truly the first human it is seeing in the flesh. Breathing and facing away, staring off as though it's mind was elsewhere. The Bastion wisely stepped back but the floored whined under the relief from the weight of the robot's foot. 

The human turned to the sound. 

\---------

Reinhardt turned to the noise. Pulled from his thoughts he locked eyes onto the bastion that was watching him. Sucking in a breath, everything froze. His mind processing what a bastion was doing there standing on its two feet.

His mind drew a blank, eyes turning glassy. Every muscle went rigid as the bastion stepped forward, its weapon raised. Surroundings became hazy. The sound of the battle that had wrecked havoc through this town echoed louder in his ears. Reinhardt heard voices of his comrades scream in pain as they were gunned down by bastion units.  
The man felt cornered by this monster with no weapons or armor. He needed to run or perish.

\--------- 

Bastion watched the human coil up just as it stepped forward to prepare itself to shoot it, the humans stance reminded them of a rabbit wanting to run. Just as suspected it charged out the back through a hole that barely fit him. Some of it broke and crumbled to the ground as it wedged itself through. They stood, hearing the beast run away with little grace. 

“That was scary” Bastions audio processor wheezed. 

Ganymedes glided from their shoulder onto a broken chair near where the human once stood. Bastion felt confused, one of the things that killed his fallen kin had come all the way here. Sure it had looked less shiny and weapon less than the ones Bastion knew but it didn't make sense.  
The yellow bird turned to the humans escape route and flew through the same hole, he wanted to pursue the beast further. Bastion, however, had had enough.

“Maybe from a farther distance?” Bastion beeped to Ganymedes, who was waiting outside.

“I don’t want to end up like them” They called out again. The bird sang back, apparently the human was in a hurry and is already far enough. 

“Fine” They sagged, defeatedly. They could not fit through the broken hole in the wall but simply went out and around, their yellow friend flew from roof to roof. Inspecting for beetles he could snack on.  
Bastion found the same tracks that the beast left and strolled on, this time with their gun slightly raised. 

\--------- 

Sweat ran down his back as he bolted. His breath was uncontrollable along with every bit of his tense body. Grass and stone flew past him in a blur. 

He did not stop until the towering doors of the castle stood before him. He wrenched them open, adrenaline fueling every motion. A breeze creeped out, as if the castle exhaled. The silence of a tomb was shattered by the running and slamming of doors. Old dust stirred at his disturbance. In here, not even the rays of sunlight reached in. Its once proud walls and hallways now looked ruined and untouched from the battle that had scarred it.  
At the very heart of the castle Reinhardt stopped, resting on the very throne was his master in full armor. Rays of sun creating a natural spotlight for the king.  
He fell to his knees, the last of the adrenaline burned out as his senses were grounded again. The dust stirred from his disturbance made it harder to catch his breath. 

Taking in the sight before him, fat tears rolled down his cheeks. His unworking eye apparently still held working tear ducts, but he didn't notice the salty fluid leak. Under the overwhelming shock of seeing the ruins, the bastion unit, and finally his deceased master before him, he covered his face in his hands.

Sobbing echoed the cavernous room.


End file.
